This serial issue contains 12 articles on the theme of "Professional Development," specifically about how teachers in the Bread Loaf Rural Teacher Network (BLRTN) are fostering their own and each other's development as teachers. The BLRTN consists of approximately 260 rural teachers in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky,…

The goal of this booklet is to help teachers re-examine education for students with disabilities. It is intended to help clarify issues related to developing adaptive processes to include students with disabilities in general education classrooms. It begins by explaining the difference between mainstreaming, integration, and inclusion, how a…

This report presents information from a study of teachers of the year regarding their personal experiences with teacher leadership. It highlights: reasons to promote leadership (e.g., teachers have the most expertise and knowledge of how to improve education for students and can form a critical mass with their peers for positive or negative change…

The work of mentoring educational professionals includes establishing strong models to help educators and potential education leaders define operating principles that guide their professional work. The University of Central Florida partners with several public schools in developing models of mentoring. Teaching faculty at the college work directly…

This booklet summarizes findings from Just for the Kids' recent examination of promising practices in Texas Schools. It focuses on those schools that served disadvantaged students yet had high performance over 3 years. The key focus of Just for the Kids is on the students. Schools break down the goals of school reform into manageable chunks,…

Viewing standards from the perspective of classroom teachers, this book discusses the need to alter middle school culture to facilitate meaningful improvements in the teaching-learning environment. It emphasizes efforts by middle grades educators to make schools and classrooms places where more students work harder to do work of higher quality…

This qualitative study investigated efforts to develop a formal inclusion program at the secondary level in a small urban school district. There were approximately 40 educators and 550 students in the junior and high school programs. About 60 of the students were identified with disabilities, including learning disabilities, behavior disorders,…

This study was designed to better understand teachers as users of personal knowledge, examining teachers in inclusive one-teacher, Seventh Day Adventist schools. The study examined teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning, teachers' personal practical knowledge, teachers' professional identity, contextual factors that enabled or constrained…

Suggests guidelines and strategies to help teacher preparation programs move toward collaborative instruction for regular and special education teachers. Offers instructional procedures and suggestions for what to teach, as well as an overview of factors that influence the implementation of collaboration instruction for all educators. (Author/CR)

A Nebraska high school implemented interdisciplinary teaming several years ago as a direct result of its strategic planning effort. It eventually rejected the intensified block schedule, which manipulated time without changing teacher roles, and adopted a flexible block schedule. Departments were replaced by interdisciplinary teams of teachers and…

A study involving 92 general educators and 114 special educators that examined perceptions of actual and preferred preassessment-related team activities and preferred permanent team members, found agreement on existing and preferred preassessment-related activities (clarifying students' problems, developing general curriculum interventions, and…

Examines what can happen when collegiality as process is opened to include students as well as teachers. This paper presents an example from one fourth-grade classroom where teachers and students alike engage in thoughtful conversations that lead to higher levels of learning and growth. (SM)

Describes two interdisciplinary high school courses team taught by English and social studies teachers: American Studies and World Studies. Discusses format and structure of the courses; presents a basic outline of each course; includes a description of a typical day in the courses; and offers examples of student projects. Offers hints and…

Notes the increasing influence of conservative politics on education at the local school board level. Offers a fairy tale written by a group of educators that raises questions about autonomy, control, and the need for participation in the context of the current conservative climate. (SR)

Reviews the literature on teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to, and research on the acquisition of first and second language by, students with visual impairments and sighted students. The need for close cooperation between vision teachers and ESL teachers is discussed. (Author/CR)